Prior to this week, the Newfoundland Growlers had been defeated decisively just once in these ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs. That was April 20, when the Brampton Beast trounced the Growlers 8-2 in a chippy Game 5 of their first-round series.
It didn’t look as bad on the scoreboard, but the Growlers got their second schooling of this post-season Wednesday night in Toledo, Ohio, where the Toledo Walleye downed Newfoundland 4-1.
The result leaves the Growlers with a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Kelly Cup championship series, which continues tonight (9:05 p.m. NT) in Toledo.
If past practice holds, Newfoundland should be able to bounce back in Game 4 tonight; after that lopsided loss to Brampton, the Growlers responded with a 3-2 win that gave them their first ever playoff series win.
But that was the first round. This is the fourth. And that Game 6 victory over the Beast came in the friendly confines of Mile One Centre in St. John’s. Friendly will not be the description — at least as far as what is directed at the Growlers — for tonight’s game in Toledo’s Huntington Center.
It will be another sellout tonight, beyond a sellout in fact, because the 8,472 that packed the Toledo rink Wednesday, the largest crowd in Walleye history, included about 1,000 there standing-room tickets.
Many players called it the loudest crowd they’ve played before, and while Growlers’ head coach John Snowden said it made for a fun atmosphere, he acknowledged his team hadn’t experienced anything like it this season.
All that generated energy certainly was passed on to the Walleye, who outshout the visitors 19-6 in the opening period, only to be constantly thwarted by Newfoundland goalie Michael Garteig. And while the Growlers got the game’s first goal early in the second period when Hudson Elynuik converted on a nifty drop pass from Derian Plouffe, and then maintained that 1-0 lead for another 10 minutes, it could be fairly said Toledo dominated every period and every patch of ice.
“I thought they were over the top of us, smothering us in all three zones and we really didn’t really fight out way through,” Snowden told Growlers broadcaster Chris Ballard after the game.
Elynuik’s marker came on one of just three Newfoundland shots in the middle frame. By comparison, Toledo had as many goals in the period, all three of them coming in a four-minute and 31-second span in the middle frame.
One of them came from captain Shane Berschbach, who would also score in a third period that was somewhat better for the Growlers, but not nearly good enough.
One thing the Growlers have been good at this season is not stewing over bad losses; they usually haven’t overflowed into the next contest.
Having played so many back-to-back games against the same opponent, much of that has been because of Newfoundland’s ability to make on-ice adjustments for rematches, and you can expect that process was underway on Thursday. But the Growlers also might feel better prepared for the Huntington Centre crowd, at least so that it doesn’t fuzz up at their focus.
Forewarned is forearmed; the Growlers now have a better idea of what to expect tonight.
"At the end of the day, the game is played between the boards and we have to tune out all of the other distractions,” Newfoundland captain James Melindy told Ballard on Thursday.
“You have to weather the madness that comes with playing in this rink.”
Dog Bites
Injured Growlers forward Josh Kestner skated in an optional practice Thursday, but still has to be seen as questionable for tonight’s contest. His place Wednesday was taken by Todd Skirving … Because Walleye defenceman Randy Gazzola was busy Wednesday in Toledo, it meant he couldn’t be in Fredericton, N.B., receiving a masters degree in business administration from the University of New Brunswick. Gazzola only joined the Walleye late in the season after finishing up his collegiate career and fifth season at UNB, capping it off with a national championship with the Varsity Reds, whose lineup also included St. John’s native Tyler Boland …
Twitter: @telybrendan
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